Salmonella outbreak in Cook and Lake county schools

Health officials looking at commercial kitchen in Wheeling

October 21, 2012|By Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune reporter

A recent outbreak of salmonella sickened students at five schools in the Chicago suburbs, and health officials have focused their investigation on a commercial kitchen in Wheeling that prepares lunches for the schools.

The children, ages 7 to 14, have recovered, and the outbreak appears to be over, officials said Friday.

The illnesses came to light at a school in southwestern Lake County, where one student became sick Sept. 20 and two others fell ill in the following days. One of those students was hospitalized for four days, but all have recovered, Lake County Health Department epidemiologist Victor Plotkin said.

Five additional cases were found at four schools in northern Cook County, but none required hospitalization, Cook County Department of Public Health spokeswoman Amy Poore said.

Officials did not release the names of the schools to the media, saying that could compromise the privacy of the sick children, though parents at the schools were previously notified.

Health officials say they have traced the likely source to the kitchen of a vendor for the schools, OrganicLife in Wheeling, Poore said. Letters were sent to about 100 schools served by the kitchen, alerting them to the outbreak and asking them to look out for symptoms, which typically include diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever.

As of Monday, Poore said, OrganicLife was allowed to provide only hot or prepackaged foods pending an inspection of its kitchen and until all food workers are tested twice for salmonella and retrained on safe food preparation practices.

A spokesman for OrganicLife said the company "is committed to the health and safety of our products. We have and will continue to work closely with relevant health authorities as they determine a source of this situation."

OrganicLife markets itself as "the leading provider of healthy lunches in the state of Illinois." Its website states that it serves more than 1 million meals a month at schools, day cares and universities.

Salmonella illness can be moderate and last a few days or can cause severe dehydration and require intravenous transfusions and antibiotics. The illness is caused by a bacteria typically found in foods including meat, eggs or vegetables that are not kept below 41 degrees or above 135 degrees, which officials said is required for commercial food production and is a good idea at home as well.

Officials did not previously notify the general public because it takes time for such cases to be reported and investigated, Poore said. No single food could be traced as the cause of the outbreak, she said, and while the investigation was ongoing, the threat was believed to be over.